(Bloomberg) -- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is hoping to piggyback off federal incentives for big manufacturing projects with her own subsidies ahead of November elections in which she’ll seek a second term in office.
Whitmer is courting semiconductor companies after Congress approved the Chips and Science Act, which will spend $52 billion to boost the US computer chip industry. The governor worked to rally Michigan’s congressional delegation to vote for the act and also has a state fund of $1 billion she could use to sweeten the pot for anyone wanting to build a chip fabrication plant in her state.
“We want Michigan to be a place that’s competitive,” Whitmer said in an interview Monday. “We have a powerful story to tell. It’s site development assistance, tax incentives, collaboration with our incredible universities.”
Whitmer will likely find out during Tuesday night’s Michigan primaries which Republican opponent she will face in the fall. While she has been vocal about abortion rights, a topic her opponents disagree with, Michigan elections are often decided by the state’s large base of independent voters, who often prioritize economic issues.
The governor wants to build on the state’s base of semiconductor producers that include SK Siltron CSS, which makes wafers, and semiconductor makers KLA Corp. and Hemlock Semiconductor Operations LLC.
States are competing for at least four major semiconductor projects that are a similar scale to the $20 billion Intel Corp. project announced in Ohio in January, said Quentin Messer, chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
“We are going after projects that are transformative,” Messer said. “It’s a very competitive landscape. We are confident that we are going to be in the hunt and we are aggressively pursuing opportunities.”
Whitmer’s economic record is mixed. Republican opponents claim she overreached in 2019 by shutting down small businesses at the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. While the state has recovered, Michigan’s 4.3% unemployment rate is higher than the average 3.6% nationwide and gross domestic product growth since 2019 ranks 29th in the US.
That said, she did land a $6.5 billion investment in electric vehicle development from General Motors Co. and $2 billion from Ford Motor Co. creating a combined 7,000 jobs in the next several years. GM partner LG Energy Solutions will create 1,200 jobs at a battery cell plant in the state.
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Author: David Welch